Provide status message associated with work status

ABSTRACT

One embodiment provides a method, including: receiving, at an information handling device, an incoming communication; accessing, using a processor, context data associated with a user, wherein the context data corresponds to at least one active application; determining, using the context data, a work status of the user; and providing, responsive to the incoming communication, a status message associated with the determined work status. Other aspects are described and claimed.

BACKGROUND

Users may configure messaging applications (e.g., email applications,text messaging applications, social media applications, etc.) disposedon information handling devices (“devices”), for example smart phones,tablet devices, laptop computers, smart speakers, and the like, toprovide an automatic response to any received message. For example, auser working on a task may update their status to “Busy” or “Do NotDisturb”. A sender of an incoming communication may either view thisstatus prior to sending the message, or, alternatively, may receive thepreconfigured response subsequent to sending the user a message.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In summary, one aspect provides a method, comprising: receiving, at aninformation handling device, an incoming communication; accessing, usinga processor, context data associated with a user, wherein the contextdata corresponds to at least one active application; determining, usingthe context data, a work status of the user; and providing, responsiveto the incoming communication, a status message associated with thedetermined work status.

Another aspect provides an information handling device, comprising: aprocessor; a memory device that stores instructions executable by theprocessor to: receive an incoming communication; access context dataassociated with a user, wherein the context data corresponds to at leastone active application; determine, using the context data, a work statusof the user; and provide, responsive to the incoming communication, astatus message associated with the determined work status.

A further aspect provides a product, comprising: a storage device thatstores code, the code being executable by a processor and comprising:code that receives an incoming communication; code that accesses contextdata associated with a user, wherein the context data corresponds to atleast one active application; code that determines, using the contextdata, a work status of the user; and code that provides, responsive tothe incoming communication, a status message associated with thedetermined work status.

The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications,generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is notintended to be in any way limiting.

For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other andfurther features and advantages thereof, reference is made to thefollowing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of information handling device circuitry.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example of information handling devicecircuitry.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method of updating a status message basedupon a determined work status.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments, asgenerally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations inaddition to the described example embodiments. Thus, the following moredetailed description of the example embodiments, as represented in thefigures, is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments, asclaimed, but is merely representative of example embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment” or the like in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided to give athorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant artwill recognize, however, that the various embodiments can be practicedwithout one or more of the specific details, or with other methods,components, materials, et cetera. In other instances, well knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obfuscation.

Users of messaging applications (e.g., email applications, textmessaging applications, social media applications, etc.) frequentlyutilize preconfigured status messages to alert other users, or messagesenders, of their current work status. These status messages are usuallyshort phrases that may provide an indication of where a user currentlyis, whether they are free or busy, what activity they are engaged in,how long they may be engaged in the activity, etc. For example, a userengrossed in a work matter may not want to be bothered by anycommunications so he/she may update their status to “Busy”. In somecases the user may be able to make a custom status, for example, a userengaged in a company meeting may update their status message to identifythe period of time they will be preoccupied by the meeting, e.g., “BoardMeeting (10 am-11 am)”.

Alternatively, many messaging systems will update the status of a userbased upon a detected activity. For example, the system may determinethat a user has not interacted with the system for a predeterminedlength of time and may change the user's status to “Away”. As anotherexample, the system may identify that a user is in a meeting based upona calendar appointment in the user's calendar and may change the user'sstatus to “Busy.”

Conventionally, these status messages allow other individuals to attaina rough idea of the general status of the user. However, these methodsfail to provide a more detailed description of the user's work status.For example, while a user's message status may say “Busy,” anotherindividual may not know what the user is busy with (e.g., busy withwork, busy with family, etc.) and may therefore not know whether or notit would be appropriate to contact the user. Additionally, because manytraditional methods require a user to manually update their statusmessage, if the user forgets to update their message then other usersmay not be provided with the most up-to-date work status information.This may have a negative impact on company workflow and/or may confuseother individuals.

Existing solutions allow a user to configure a system to provideautomatic status messages at predefined intervals (e.g., daily, weekly,etc.) for recurring events. For example, a user may have a weeklycompany meeting on Tuesdays at 11 am. They may configure the system toautomatically update their status message to “Company Meeting Until11:30 am” each Tuesday at 11 am. However, a user may not always abide bytheir anticipated schedule. For example, using the aforementionedexample, the user's weekly meeting may have been cancelled or postponedto another time. In such a situation, the user may actually be free tocontact between 11 am to 11:30 am, however, because the system abides bythe status schedule the user configured, it still updates the statusmessage to “Company Meeting Until 11:30 am”. Additionally, in the samevein, if the meeting is postponed to a later time on Tuesday, then thesystem may not know to provide a status message for that new meetingtime. A potential effect of this may be that other individuals maycontact the user thinking that the user is free when the user isactually participating in the postponed meeting.

Accordingly, an embodiment may provide a method for determining a user'scurrent work status and subsequently providing a status messageassociated with that work status. In an embodiment, a message orcommunication designated to a user may be received at a device. Anembodiment may access context data associated with the user, wherein thecontext data corresponds to at least one active application open on thedevice. An embodiment may then determine a work status of the user byanalyzing characteristics of the active application and provide, as aresponse to the incoming communication, a status message associated withthe user's work status. Such a method enables individuals who contact auser to be apprised of a more detailed description of the user'sactivity rather than just receive a conventional and non-descriptdefault status message (e.g., Busy, Away, etc.).

The illustrated example embodiments will be best understood by referenceto the figures. The following description is intended only by way ofexample, and simply illustrates certain example embodiments.

While various other circuits, circuitry or components may be utilized ininformation handling devices, with regard to smart phone and/or tabletcircuitry 100, an example illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a system on achip design found for example in tablet or other mobile computingplatforms. Software and processor(s) are combined in a single chip 110.Processors comprise internal arithmetic units, registers, cache memory,busses, I/O ports, etc., as is well known in the art. Internal bussesand the like depend on different vendors, but essentially all theperipheral devices (120) may attach to a single chip 110. The circuitry100 combines the processor, memory control, and I/O controller hub allinto a single chip 110. Also, systems 100 of this type do not typicallyuse SATA or PCI or LPC. Common interfaces, for example, include SDIO andI2C.

There are power management chip(s) 130, e.g., a battery management unit,BMU, which manage power as supplied, for example, via a rechargeablebattery 140, which may be recharged by a connection to a power source(not shown). In at least one design, a single chip, such as 110, is usedto supply BIOS like functionality and DRAM memory.

System 100 typically includes one or more of a WWAN transceiver 150 anda WLAN transceiver 160 for connecting to various networks, such astelecommunications networks and wireless Internet devices, e.g., accesspoints. Additionally, devices 120 are commonly included, e.g., an imagesensor such as a camera. System 100 often includes a touch screen 170for data input and display/rendering. System 100 also typically includesvarious memory devices, for example flash memory 180 and SDRAM 190.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of another example of informationhandling device circuits, circuitry or components. The example depictedin FIG. 2 may correspond to computing systems such as the THINKPADseries of personal computers sold by Lenovo (US) Inc. of Morrisville,N.C., or other devices. As is apparent from the description herein,embodiments may include other features or only some of the features ofthe example illustrated in FIG. 2.

The example of FIG. 2 includes a so-called chipset 210 (a group ofintegrated circuits, or chips, that work together, chipsets) with anarchitecture that may vary depending on manufacturer (for example,INTEL, AMD, ARM, etc.). INTEL is a registered trademark of IntelCorporation in the United States and other countries. AMD is aregistered trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. in the UnitedStates and other countries. ARM is an unregistered trademark of ARMHoldings plc in the United States and other countries. The architectureof the chipset 210 includes a core and memory control group 220 and anI/O controller hub 250 that exchanges information (for example, data,signals, commands, etc.) via a direct management interface (DMI) 242 ora link controller 244. In FIG. 2, the DMI 242 is a chip-to-chipinterface (sometimes referred to as being a link between a “northbridge”and a “southbridge”). The core and memory control group 220 include oneor more processors 222 (for example, single or multi-core) and a memorycontroller hub 226 that exchange information via a front side bus (FSB)224; noting that components of the group 220 may be integrated in a chipthat supplants the conventional “northbridge” style architecture. One ormore processors 222 comprise internal arithmetic units, registers, cachememory, busses, I/O ports, etc., as is well known in the art.

In FIG. 2, the memory controller hub 226 interfaces with memory 240 (forexample, to provide support for a type of RAM that may be referred to as“system memory” or “memory”). The memory controller hub 226 furtherincludes a low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) interface 232 for adisplay device 292 (for example, a CRT, a flat panel, touch screen,etc.). A block 238 includes some technologies that may be supported viathe LVDS interface 232 (for example, serial digital video, HDMI/DVI,display port). The memory controller hub 226 also includes a PCI-expressinterface (PCI-E) 234 that may support discrete graphics 236.

In FIG. 2, the I/O hub controller 250 includes a SATA interface 251 (forexample, for HDDs, SDDs, etc., 280), a PCI-E interface 252 (for example,for wireless connections 282), a USB interface 253 (for example, fordevices 284 such as a digitizer, keyboard, mice, cameras, phones,microphones, storage, other connected devices, etc.), a networkinterface 254 (for example, LAN), a GPIO interface 255, a LPC interface270 (for ASICs 271, a TPM 272, a super I/O 273, a firmware hub 274, BIOSsupport 275 as well as various types of memory 276 such as ROM 277,Flash 278, and NVRAM 279), a power management interface 261, a clockgenerator interface 262, an audio interface 263 (for example, forspeakers 294), a TCO interface 264, a system management bus interface265, and SPI Flash 266, which can include BIOS 268 and boot code 290.The I/O hub controller 250 may include gigabit Ethernet support.

The system, upon power on, may be configured to execute boot code 290for the BIOS 268, as stored within the SPI Flash 266, and thereafterprocesses data under the control of one or more operating systems andapplication software (for example, stored in system memory 240). Anoperating system may be stored in any of a variety of locations andaccessed, for example, according to instructions of the BIOS 268. Asdescribed herein, a device may include fewer or more features than shownin the system of FIG. 2.

Information handling device circuitry, as for example outlined in FIG. 1or FIG. 2, may be used in devices such as tablets, smart phones,personal computer devices generally, and/or electronic devices which auser may use and may include communication applications that provide astatus of the user. For example, the circuitry outlined in FIG. 1 may beimplemented in a tablet or smart phone embodiment, whereas the circuitryoutlined in FIG. 2 may be implemented in a personal computer embodiment.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an embodiment may provide methods forresponding to an incoming communication. At 301, an embodiment mayreceive an incoming communication. The incoming communication may besent from another individual to the user and may be a text message, anemail message, a voice message, an instant message, and the like. In anembodiment, the message may be received by an active applicationemployed by the user's device such as a text messaging application, asocial media application, an email application, a phone application, andthe like. Alternatively, the incoming communication may not be a sentmessage, but rather an indication that a user wants to contact anotheruser. In other words, the system may detect when another user hasselected a user for contacting. For example, one user may select anotheruser for contact through an instant messaging application. Once the userhas been selected the system may query the user's system to determinethe status of the user. The query may be treated as an incomingcommunication.

At 302, an embodiment may access context data associated with a user. Inan embodiment, the context data may be associated with at least oneactive application open on the device such as a web-browsingapplication, a word processing application, an email application, amedia playing application, an application associated with a sensordisposed on the device (e.g., a microphone, a camera, etc.), and thelike. An application may be considered active, for example, if a cursoris placed inside of the application or a user is performing functions(e.g., typing, clicking, scrolling, providing vocal or visual input,etc.) inside of or to the application. Alternatively, an application mayalso be considered active by simply being open, regardless of whether auser is performing functions inside of the application and/or regardlessof whether the application window is expanded or minimized.

At 303, an embodiment may determine if a work status of the user can bedetermined. The work status of the user of the user may be determinedusing the context data. The work status of the user may refer to adescription of how busy a user is, what they are working on, how longthey have been working for, a combination thereof, etc. If a work statuscannot be determined at 303, an embodiment may provide a default statusmessage at 304. However, if a work status can be determined at 303, anembodiment may provide, at 305, a status message associated with thedetermined work status. In an embodiment, the status message maydescribe at least one aspect of the user's work status. The work statusof a user and corresponding status message may be determined andprovided by utilizing some, or all, of the following methods andexamples.

In an embodiment, the work status may be determined by identifying anapplication type associated with the active application. In thiscontext, the application type may refer to a generalized function of theapplication (e.g., a word-processing application, a media playingapplication, an internet browsing application, etc.). Alternatively, orin addition to, the application type may refer to the name of theapplication itself (e.g., Microsoft Excel®, Internet Explorer®,Netflix®, etc.). The application type may be determined, for example, byidentifying any metadata associated with the application that identifiesthe application name or what the application does. Other methods fordetermining the application type that are not listed here may also beused. Responsive to determining the work status of the user byidentifying the application type, an embodiment may provide, or update,a corresponding status message. For example, responsive to determiningthat a user is working in a specific word-processing application, suchas Microsoft Word®, an embodiment may update the status message to “UserA is busy working on Document A in Microsoft Word”.

In an embodiment, the work status may be determined by identifying thecontent included in the active application. In this context, applicationcontent may refer to the type of data present in the application (e.g.,text data, image data, video data, voice data received by theapplication, etc.). Additionally, application content may also refer toa title of a document itself or subtitles of sections within thedocument. In an embodiment, the content of the application may bedetermined, for example, by identifying any metadata associated with theapplication. For example, metadata may be attached to a particulardocument that identifies the document as a text document as opposed to avideo document. In another example, metadata may also be attached to anapplication that identifies a document title (e.g., Appeal Brief forClient X, etc.).

Alternatively, or in addition to, an embodiment may determine thecontent of the application by identifying the presence and/or abundanceof media files, images, words, etc. associated with the application. Forexample, an embodiment may determine that a user is viewing a mediaplaying application rather than working in a word document byidentifying that the application primarily contains moving video imagesand few words. Other methods for determining the application contentthat are not listed here may also be used. Responsive to determining thework status of the user by identifying the content associated with theapplication, an embodiment may provide, or update, a correspondingstatus message. For example, responsive to determining that anapplication contains primarily video data, an embodiment may update theuser's status message to “User A is engaged with a media playingapplication”. Alternatively, responsive to identifying specific sectionswithin an application, an embodiment may provide a more specific statusmessage such as “User A is currently working on the Arguments Section ofthe Appeal Brief for Client X”.

In an embodiment, the work status may be determined by identifying alength of activity in the active application. In this context, thelength of activity may refer to how long a user has interacted with aparticular application. For example, an embodiment may determine that auser has interacted with a particular active application for one hour.In an embodiment, certain designations may be assigned to differentactivity lengths. For example, if a user has only interacted with anapplication for a brief time (e.g., a few seconds to a couple minutes,etc.) an embodiment may determine that a user has only just begunworking in that application and provide a status message that isreflective of this activity length, such as “User A has just begunworking in application B.”

Alternatively, or in addition to, if an embodiment determines that auser has interacted with an application for a long period of time, anembodiment may determine that a user is deep in their work and provide amessage status that emphasizes this point, such as “User A is very busyworking on application B.” In an embodiment, a status message may bedynamically updated to a default status message by identifying thatthere has been a predetermined length of inactivity in one or any of theactive applications. For example, responsive to determining that a userhas not provided any inputs to any of the active applications for 15minutes, an embodiment may update the status message to a defaultmessage such as “User A has been inactive for X amount of time”.

In an embodiment, the work status may be determined by identifying adesignation of one or more active applications. The designation mayrefer to a context associated with an application (e.g., a work-basedapplication, a home or leisure-type application, etc.). In anembodiment, the designation may be a predefined user-provideddesignation associated with different types of applications. Forexample, a user may designate all word-processing applications as beingassociated with a work context and all media-playing applications asbeing associated with a home, or leisure, context.

In an embodiment, the designations for the applications may also beupdated and assigned dynamically. For instance, in an embodiment,application designations may be based upon where and/or when they areaccessed. For example, GPS data may be utilized to determine that a useris interacting with an active application on a device at a worklocation. Responsive to determining that the application is active atthe work location, the application is designated as a work-basedapplication. Conversely, if an embodiment detects (e.g., using GPS data,etc.) that the user accesses the same application at a home location,the designation may switch to a home context. In the same vein, if anapplication is accessed during conventional work hours (e.g., 8 am-5 pm,etc.) an embodiment may determine that it should be associated with awork context. Alternatively, if the same application is accessed duringoff-work hours (e.g., early morning or after 5 pm, etc.) an embodimentmay determine that the application is associated with a non-workcontext.

Responsive to determining the context of the application, an embodimentmay provide a corresponding message. For example, responsive todetermining that the application is associated with a work-basedcontext, an embodiment may provide a status message such as “User A hasbeen interacting with a work-based application for 30 minutes”. Asimilar status message may be provided for applications determined to beleisure-related.

In an embodiment, the work status may be determined by identifying acurrent position in an active application. In an embodiment, the currentposition may refer to a cursor position within the application (e.g., acursor positioned as the top of the page vs. the bottom of the page,etc.). In another embodiment, the current position may be identified,for example, by identifying a location of the user's gaze (e.g., byutilizing one or more cameras, etc.). For example, an embodiment mayidentify that a user is reading the text at the bottom of a document asopposed to the middle or top of the document. Responsive to identifyingthe user's position, an embodiment may update the status messageaccordingly. For example, an embodiment may identify that a user hasjust opened a document and begun reading it. Responsive to identifying auser's early position in the document, an embodiment may provide astatus message such as “User A is reading a document and is currently atthe beginning of the document”.

In an embodiment, the status message may be immediately sent back to theuser responsive to receiving the incoming communication. For example,responsive to receiving the message “Do you have a moment to talk?” anembodiment may send a status message back to the sender stating “Dave isbusy working on a work-related spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel”.Alternatively, in another embodiment, the status message may becontinuously on display and visible to potential message senders. Forexample, for a user utilizing a text messaging application, the statusmessage may be visible to the sender as an icon next to the user's textmessaging username. In another example, for a user utilizing an emailapplication, potential senders may see the status message prior tosending the email by just entering the user's contact email into theapplication or by selecting the user to send an email to. In yet afurther example, the status message may appear on a user's calendar sothat any viewers having access to the user's calendar may see the statusmessage. In yet a further example, the status message may be an audiblemessage, such as a voicemail greeting, that may play responsive toreceiving a vocal message (e.g., a call, etc.) from a sender.

The various embodiments described herein thus represent a technicalimprovement to conventional status message updating techniques. Usingthe techniques described herein, an embodiment may determine a workstatus of a user by accessing context data associated with activeapplications open on a user's device. An embodiment may then dynamicallyprovide a corresponding status message reflective of the user's currentwork status. Such an embodiment enables other individuals to be apprisedof the most up to date work status of the user.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, various aspects may beembodied as a system, method or device program product. Accordingly,aspects may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment or anembodiment including software that may all generally be referred toherein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects maytake the form of a device program product embodied in one or more devicereadable medium(s) having device readable program code embodiedtherewith.

It should be noted that the various functions described herein may beimplemented using instructions stored on a device readable storagemedium such as a non-signal storage device that are executed by aprocessor. A storage device may be, for example, a system, apparatus, ordevice (e.g., an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device) or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a storagedevice/medium include the following: a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), anoptical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a storagedevice is not a signal and “non-transitory” includes all media exceptsignal media.

Program code embodied on a storage medium may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, et cetera, or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

Program code for carrying out operations may be written in anycombination of one or more programming languages. The program code mayexecute entirely on a single device, partly on a single device, as astand-alone software package, partly on single device and partly onanother device, or entirely on the other device. In some cases, thedevices may be connected through any type of connection or network,including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), orthe connection may be made through other devices (for example, throughthe Internet using an Internet Service Provider), through wirelessconnections, e.g., near-field communication, or through a hard wireconnection, such as over a USB connection.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to the figures,which illustrate example methods, devices and program products accordingto various example embodiments. It will be understood that the actionsand functionality may be implemented at least in part by programinstructions. These program instructions may be provided to a processorof a device, a special purpose information handling device, or otherprogrammable data processing device to produce a machine, such that theinstructions, which execute via a processor of the device implement thefunctions/acts specified.

It is worth noting that while specific blocks are used in the figures,and a particular ordering of blocks has been illustrated, these arenon-limiting examples. In certain contexts, two or more blocks may becombined, a block may be split into two or more blocks, or certainblocks may be re-ordered or re-organized as appropriate, as the explicitillustrated examples are used only for descriptive purposes and are notto be construed as limiting.

As used herein, the singular “a” and “an” may be construed as includingthe plural “one or more” unless clearly indicated otherwise.

This disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription but is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art. The example embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain principles and practical application, and to enable others ofordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for variousembodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particularuse contemplated.

Thus, although illustrative example embodiments have been describedherein with reference to the accompanying figures, it is to beunderstood that this description is not limiting and that various otherchanges and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in theart without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, at aninformation handling device, an incoming communication; accessing, usinga processor, context data associated with a user, wherein the contextdata corresponds to at least one active application; determining, usingthe context data, a work status of the user; and providing, responsiveto the incoming communication, a status message associated with thedetermined work status.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at leastone active application is at least one application selected from thegroup consisting of a web-browsing application, a word processingapplication, an email application, a media playing application, and adatabase application.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the activeapplication is identified using at least one sensor selected from atleast one of a camera and a microphone and wherein the determiningcomprises determining the work status based upon inputs received by theat least one sensor.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determiningcomprises determining the work status based upon a type of the at leastone active application.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining comprises determining the work status based upon contentincluded in the at least one active application.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the determining comprises determining the work status basedupon a length of activity in the at least one active application.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising updating the status message to apredefined status message if the length of activity corresponds to alength of inactivity exceeding a predetermined threshold.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining the workstatus based upon a designation of the at least one active application.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determiningthe work status based upon a current position in the at least one activeapplication.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating thestatus message based upon a change in the determined work status.
 11. Aninformation handling device, comprising: a processor; a memory devicethat stores instructions executable by the processor to: receive anincoming communication; access context data associated with a user,wherein the context data corresponds to at least one active application;determine, using the context data, a work status of the user; andprovide, responsive to the incoming communication, a status messageassociated with the determined work status.
 12. The information handlingdevice of claim 11, wherein the at least one active application is atleast one application selected from the group consisting of aweb-browsing application, a word processing application, an emailapplication, a media playing application, and a database application.13. The information handling device of claim 11, wherein the activeapplication is identified using at least one sensor selected from atleast one of a camera and a microphone and wherein the instructionsexecutable by the processor to determine comprises instructionsexecutable by the processor to determine the work status based uponinputs received by the at least one sensor.
 14. The information handlingdevice of claim 11, wherein the instructions executable by the processorto determine comprise instructions executable by the processor todetermine the work status based upon a type of the at least one activeapplication.
 15. The information handling device of claim 11, whereinthe instructions executable by the processor to determine compriseinstructions executable by the processor to determine the work statusbased upon context included in the at least one active application. 16.The information handling device of claim 11, wherein the instructionsexecutable by the processor to determine comprise instructionsexecutable by the processor to determine the work status based upon alength of activity in the at least one active application.
 17. Theinformation handling device of claim 16, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the processor to update the status message to apredefined status message if the length of activity corresponds to alength of inactivity exceeding a predetermined threshold.
 18. Theinformation handling device of claim 11, wherein the instructionsexecutable by the processor to determine comprise instructionsexecutable by the processor to determine the work status based upon adesignation of the at least one active application.
 19. The informationhandling device of claim 11, wherein the instructions executable by theprocessor to determine comprise instructions executable by the processorto determine the work status based upon a current position in the atleast one active application.
 20. A product, comprising: a storagedevice that stores code, the code being executable by a processor andcomprising: code that receives an incoming communication; code thataccesses context data associated with a user, wherein the context datacorresponds to at least one active application; code that determines,using the context data, a work status of the user; and code thatprovides, responsive to the incoming communication, a status messageassociated with the determined work status.